India

There is no single Indian meal, only the one in front of you — and the country will happily argue for hours over whose is best. Start in the north, where bread is king: puffed puri, blistered naan pulled from a clay tandoor, flaky paratha, all torn and dragged through dal makhani, black lentils simmered overnight with butter until they turn silky. The northern pantry runs on dairy, dried fruit and slow richness — korma, kebabs, a fragrant biryani layered with rice and spice.

Head south and the plate changes shape entirely. Rice takes over, meals arrive on a banana leaf, and the flavours sharpen with mustard seed, curry leaf, tamarind and coconut: a crisp golden dosa folded over spiced potato, spongy idli dunked in sambhar, a bowl of peppery rasam. Wherever you land there’s a thali to taste it all at once, and a sweet to finish — a syrup-soaked jalebi, a saffron rasmalai — chased with a glass of milky, cardamom-scented chai.